Michigan's Last Seconds TD Downs Trojans

The Wolverines jumped out to a 14-0 lead early making USC's Big 10 debut look like it may be a cakewalk, but the Trojans fought back, playing great defense, and took the lead in the 4th quarter after completely shutting down the Michigan offense. But with seconds left in the game the Wolverines bulldozed their way into the end zone on 4th and 2 to take the win 27-24. The 3-1 Michigan team, whose only loss lies at the hands of #1 Texas, leaped back into this week's Top 5 at #3.   Clemson remains on top of the ACC after destroying NC State 59-35. The Tigers only loss is to #2 Georgia. Miami (Fla.) is undefeated at 4-0 but suffers from a strength of schedule at #115. The Hurricane comes in at #27 this week. Navy surprised the high flying Memphis Tigers, the highest rated G5 team, 56-44. The slot for the G5 CFP bid seems wide open right now. Illinois is a surprising 4-0 after going on the road to Lincoln and snatching away a 31-24 win over the Cornhuskers. The Big 12 race is anybody's guess at this point, although Utah made an impression with their 22-19 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater. BYU shocked league leader Kansas State 38-9 late Saturday night. The Cougars are now 4-0. Washington State remained undefeated with a 54-52 overtime win over San Jose State. The mighty Texas Longhorns remained #1 after a 51-3 thrashing of La. Monroe 51-3. What's going on with Vanderbilt? First they shocked Virginia Tech now they took Missouri into overtime before losing 30-27. Tennessee spoiled Oklahoma's SEC debut in Norman 25-15. The game was totally, and I mean totally dominated by the Vols but the Sooner defense kept Oklahoma in the game to the very end. Georgia and Alabama were both idle preparing for next Saturday's  epic showdown in Tuscaloosa. 

Georgia Nips Kentucky 13-12

In a game reminiscent of the great defensive slugfests of 40 years ago the Bulldogs and Wildcats put on quite a defensive clinic. Both prolific offenses were stifled by defensive mastery on both teams. Georgia came out on top 13-12. All this after one week ago Kentucky was thumped at home by South Carolina. The SEC title race will be entertaining in 2024 to say the least. Texas remained at #1 after dismantling UTSA 56-7, followed by 7 other fellow SEC teams in this week's Top 25.  In other notable games, Kansas State took a huge step towards leading the newly expanded Big 12 by dominating Arizona 31-7. Memphis took the lead for the automatic bid for the CFP playoff by the G5 teams with a stunning win in Tallahassee over the Seminoles 20-12. Washington State got a little revenge over Washington after being snubbed by the Big 10. The Cougars surprised the Huskies 24-19. Notre Dame rebounded from the loss to Northern Illinois with a 66-7 thrashing of Purdue. Toledo traveled South to SEC country and came away with a solid 41-17 win over Mississippi State, Surprising UNLV traveled to Kansas City and squeaked by the Jayhawks 23-20 . Kansas is playing all their home games in Kansas City while totally rebuilding the stadium in Lawrence. Oklahoma struggled  again mightily this week, finally pulling away very late to defeat Tulane 34-19. The Sooners better surround the wagons this week as they play host to high flying Tennessee in the Sooners first ever SEC game. Projections will be posted Wednesday.     

Texas Dominates Michigan 31-12

The Longhorns took a trip to the Big House and made themselves at home. The game was never in doubt as Texas played like a National Champion, signaling to the Nation they are not only back, but on top. The 31-12 win vaulted Texas all the way to #1 in this week's Billingsley.  Oh what a difference a week makes. 7 days ago Notre Dame traveled to College Station and whipped the Aggies only to return to South Bend and be shocked by #88 Northern Illinois 16-14 in one of college football's greatest upsets ever. Oregon and Oklahoma survived upset bids, the Ducks kicked a late field goal to beat a very good Boise State team 37-34 while the Sooner defense sealed a late victory over lowly ranked Houston 16-12. Clearly the Sooners have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. A solid Tulane team comes to town this week. Tennessee had perhaps the most impressive win of the week with a 51-10 thrashing of North Carolina State. Projections will be posted Wednesday.    

Notre Dame Prevails in Defense Slugfest

Two games remain on the schedule before the week 2 rankings can be posted. LSU and USC play tonight in Las Vegas and Florida State hosts Boston College Monday night. But college football was in full swing Thursday, Friday and Saturday with several high profile games on tap and the best was saved for last as Notre Dame traveled to College Station to battle Texas A&M and what a great defensive show was displayed. Tied at 6-6 at the half the two traded touchdowns to move into a 13-13 standoff until late in the 4th quarter. The Fighting Irish took a 20-13 lead and held the Aggie offense on 4th and 2 deep in A&M territory. The subsequent Notre Dame field goal secured the Irish victory at 23-13.  Georgia demolished Clemson 34-3 and will most likely leap to the top of this week's Billingsley Report. Penn State, 34-12 winner over West Virginia, and Notre Dame will likely make big moves as well. The rankings will post Tuesday and next weeks projections Wednesday. 

Yellow Jackets Sting Seminoles on Late Field Goal

The 2024 season opened with a bang Saturday as Georgia Tech upset heavily favored Florida State 24-21 on a field goal as time expired. The game was held in Dublin Ireland. The loss plummeted the Seminoles to #18 in the first week's Billingsley Report while Georgia Tech soared from #66 to #42.  A full slate of games start Thursday night and continue all the way through Labor Day Monday night. Week 2 projections will be posted Tuesday. 

Seminoles and Yellow Jackets open 2024 Season

The 2024 season is upon us. Florida State and Georgia Tech meet in Dublin, Ireland August 24. The Seminoles are a heavy favorite, but I expect the Yellow Jackets to be prepared. Labor Day weekend kicks off a full slate of games beginning on Thursday night August 29 and running through Monday night September 2. Several games will have playoff implications as Georgia faces Clemson in Atlanta, Notre Dame travels to Texas A&M, and on Sunday night USC faces LSU in Las Vegas. The first Billingsley Report will post on Sunday night August 25 reflecting the abbreviated start of 4 games. The next report will not be posted until Tuesday September 3 which will include the results of The primetime Labor Day night game of Boston College at Florida State. 

All Time Scores Data Completed for 2023

Billingsley's College Football Encyclopedia has been completely updated through the 2023 season. Three teams recorded their best rating in program history. The surprising Missouri Tigers, 11-2-0 in 2023 beat out the 2013 12-2-0 Tiger team 307.948 over 297.466. National Champion Michigan, 15-0-0 shattered their 1997 rating of 363.070 with a rating of 385.611 and National runner up Washington edged their previous best from 1991 of 343.128 with a rating of 347.425 with a 14-1-0 record.  Questions remain whether or not the Billingsley Report will be published in 2024, dependent on Billingsley's health. Stay tuned for more information over the summer. 

2023 Michigan Ranks 5th All Time in Billingsley's Top 200.

The 2023 Final Reports have been updated in the Historical Data Section of Billingsley's College Football Encyclopedia. The Wolverine's 385.611 points landed Michigan as #5 on the Top 200 Teams of All-Time list. The updating of the All-Time Scores Section has begun and is scheduled to be completed in May. The question of whether or not the Billingsley Report will be published in 2024 is dependent on Billingsley's health which continues to decline. Stay tuned, a decision will be announced sometime in August. 

Michigan Wallops Washington 34-13 to Win National Championship

The game never really seemed in doubt, although Washington had moments of momentum and kept the score within 7 points most of the game, the Michigan defense stole the show and the Wolverines walked away with a resounding 34-13 victory. The process of updating the Billingsley Encyclopedia will begin in the next few weeks and all of the files should be updated by early to mid March. 

Washington and Michigan Will Play For Championship

Houston's NRG Stadium will host the 2023 National Championship Game Monday January 8. Washington and Michigan both qualified for the final in dramatic fashion. In the Rose Bowl Michigan topped the Tide in overtime 27-20 and in the Sugar Bowl Washington held off a furious Texas rally to nip the Longhorns 37-31. Billingsley's projection for the title game will be posted tomorrow. 

Navy Comeback Falls Short

In one of the most dramatic finishes in the 124 year history of the series Navy fell inches short of the Army goal line as time ran out. After controlling the game for 4 quarters the Army defense was unable to stop the Midshipmen on their last drive until a powerful goal line stand on 4th down with inches to go. With 1 second on the clock the Black Knights took a safety and the game ended Army 17 Navy 11. 

Nation Awaits CFP Rankings

The Championship Games are in the record books and chaos reigns in college football after Alabama defeated two time defending National Champ Georgia 27-24 Saturday afternoon. Three teams maneuvered their way through the 2023 regular season unbeaten and will no doubt finish #1,2,3 in some order, but the 4th place will be the hardest decision the playoff committee has ever had to make. Three teams, all 12-1, have a legitimate argument for the #4 position. The just released Billingsley Report shows Alabama rising to secure the final spot, edging out Georgia followed by Ohio State with Texas coming in at #7. The Longhorns certainly have a good claim considering they beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa in September, but the Horns later lost to arch rival Oklahoma and Alabama sailed on to 11 straight victories playing a more difficult schedule. Still, the CFP is known to place a lot of value to head to head competition so it's going to be interesting to see the final results scheduled to begin releasing ay 11 AM this morning CT. The Bowl matchups will be released throughout this afternoon.